Chemosphere

Volume 118, January 2015, Pages 357–360

Variation in concentrations of organochlorines and brominated flame retardants among eggs in abandoned clutches of a terrestrial raptor

• Jan O. Bustnes^{a, ,} ,
• Georg Bangjord^b,
• Nigel G. Yoccoz^{a, c}

doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2014.10.017

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Highlights

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Tawny owl clutches abandoned by the parents were collected.

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Chlorinated and brominated compounds were analyzed in all eggs.

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Concentrations were similar among eggs within clutches.

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Abandoned eggs seem to provide a relatively reliable measurement of lipophilic pollutants.

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Abstract

Bird eggs are often used to measure various pollutants in monitoring programs. In protected species, however, it might only be possible to collect eggs abandoned by the parent birds. In order to assess the appropriateness of abandoned eggs for contaminant monitoring we examined intra-clutch variation in concentrations of 24 halogenated organic pollutants (16 organochlorines [OCs] and 8 brominated flame retardants) in six abandoned tawny owl (Strix aluco) clutches from central Norway. The variation among eggs within a clutch was low for nearly all compounds (intra-class correlation >0.9 both for lipid- and wet weight). This study suggests that abandoned eggs provide a relatively reliable measurement of lipophilic pollutants in clutches of terrestrial raptors such as the tawny owl.

Keywords

• Tawny owl;
• PCB;
• DDE;
• PBDE;
• Bird eggs

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